Refreshment & printing spend (2022)

Response

In the first instance, please note that the House of Commons and the House of Lords, both of which occupy the parliamentary estate, are two separate public authorities for the purposes of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA). Therefore, some information that is held only covers the House of Commons while other information is held on a shared, bicameral basis. Whether the information covers just the Commons or both Houses of Parliament is specified in the response below. For any information solely relating to the House of Lords, you may wish to forward that part of your request to foilords@parliament.uk.

Please also understand that we do not hold records indefinitely and therefore do not hold information covering the whole period laid down in your request. Instead, we have a records disposal policy which governs how long each type of record is held, which is available on our parliamentary pages.

1. Can I request the amount of money that has been spent on tea, coffee and sugar in the last 10 years ?

We have interpreted your request to be for information about the costs of purchasing tea, coffee and sugar that is offered in our catering outlets.

Some information is held by the House of Commons in relation to this part of your request. We hold the cost of purchasing tea, coffee and sugar that is offered in House of Commons catering outlets, for the period between April 2019 and October 2022 (Table 1)

No costs are held for any period prior to April 2019.

It may help you to know that, aside from periods where Covid-19 lockdown rules were in force, the parliamentary estate and its catering venues are open to around 15,000 passholders. This includes Members of Parliament, their staff, House staff, civil servants, contractors, Peers, members of the Press Gallery and others. Catering venues are also open to a large number of non-pass holding visitors to Parliament. Further information about the catering services at the House of Commons is available on the transparency pages of our website.

2. Can I request the amount of money that has been spent on printing in the last 10 years ?

Some information is held by the House of Commons in relation to this part of your request. We hold information about the cost of high-volume printing, printing on multifunctional devices (MFDs), and outsourced printing, by financial year. The cost of desktop printing is not recorded.

Two different teams have held responsibility for printing in the time period laid down in your request. The House of Commons Vote Office hold information about printing costs from 2013/14 to date. They hold information about the cost of high-volume printing and, for the period up to and including the 2020/21 financial year only, the cost of printing on MFDs. They also hold information about the cost of outsourced printing for the whole period (Table 2). This information, broken down by financial year . ‘Copy charge’ represents a cost per copy charged by the equipment supplier. Please note that all figures in the table below exclude VAT.

The Parliamentary Digital Service (PDS), which is a bicameral team providing services to both Houses of Parliament, holds information about printing on MFDs between 2021/22 and the date of your request. The costs of this printing, by financial year (Table 3). Please note that all figures in the table below include VAT.